The labor market is tightening up worldwide, and that is especially true for technical jobs. In some markets, it's easier than ever to find jobs willing to relocate you. From Mumbai to Berlin, hiring is on the surge. Let’s take a look at the state of the field, and while we’re at it, how to get a job in Europe.
Jobs for relocation
The COVID pandemic severely disrupted hiring patterns and in 2021 companies have been making up for a lost time. However, not everyone is looking for jobs that require relocation, and this is making life more difficult for recruiters trying to fill IT jobs in many markets. For example, a recruiter told the Times of India in April 2021 that roughly half of the candidates were refusing to relocate in 2021. And as we pointed out here at Employa, post-COVID talent acquisition trends are a hot issue for HR departments everywhere.
This could be good news for those who have decided to look for technical jobs in Europe. Support for that line of thinking comes from CompTIA, the Computing Technology Industry Association. In conjunction with the European Union, CompTIA released the European Tech Hiring Trends report in June 2021. This report covers hiring trends in 10 EU Member States, namely Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Spain. Hiring was up in all markets covered.
CompTIA noted that four key job role categories in the European countries covered were all in IT. These were “Software Developers, Programmers and Web”, with job postings up 16% in Q1 2021 compared to Q4 2020, "Systems Analysts and Cybersecurity", up 4%, "IT Support Specialists and Technicians", up 5%, and "Network and Sys Admin and Technicians", up 4% in Q1 2021 versus Q4 2020.
The need for filling technical jobs in Europe is something that has some Europeans worried. Deutsche Welle examined the issue in September 2021, and along with educating Germans, finding tech workers abroad was envisioned:
"We need concepts that are designed to attract highly qualified people into the country," says Hilmar Schneider, CEO of the IZA Institute of Labor Economics in Bonn.
The authors noted that while the EU-wide trend was toward a tighter labor market, there were differences. Spain still faced high unemployment, while other countries such as Germany were at lows. Eurostat’s figures for August 2021 bear this out: Spain’s unemployment was at 14.0%, while Germany’s was 3.6%. Czechia’s was even lower, at 2.9%. But for someone looking for technical jobs in Europe, German IT jobs should be of particular interest because of the size of the market, and thus, the demand. Berlin in particular is an improving market, as CompTIA notes. Berlin’s startup scenes are bustling, so Berlin startup jobs could be in focus for some time to come.
Where to search for technical jobs
As an example of how to get a job in Europe, let’s focus on German IT jobs, and to be more specific, those in Berlin. First off, you don’t necessarily need a headhunter. Companies with jobs willing to relocate you are advertising themselves these days. On the other hand, someone telling you, “Just look on the Internets!” probably hasn’t tried this themselves.
For one thing, websites aren’t the only source for information on jobs in tech. There are specialized job boards such as jobs in tech. Social media includes the job market giant LinkedIn. With LinkedIn, for example, trying to find jobs willing to relocate you takes a little more effort than just finding, say, Berlin dev jobs. On LinkedIn, you can sort by geography, but you need to hunt for visa or relocation support information.
Tech job sites list
A list of the best tech job search sites might change depending on your specialty. The most popular are definitely go-to resources as they focus on tech without being so specific that non-tech companies that need IT personnel would avoid them. This is important in Germany, as the market there not only includes the tech giants themselves but a broad range of manufacturers utilizing the latest technology.
Here are some of the best tech job search sites. If you know where you want to move to, a geography-oriented site will help you drill down into tech jobs within verticals as much as an industry-focused site will. With that in mind, we’ve included examples for Germany.
- Stack overflow jobs
- jobsintech
- germantechjobs.de
- monster.de – good for searching through industries
- jooble.de - good for searching through industries
Large cities such as Berlin also have their own initiatives. Talent.berlin has a search in English and German.
How to get a job
To continue with our example, before you start your hunt, decide for yourself what kind of company you’re looking for as well as what you have to offer. Experience is not necessarily the most important thing; 31% of the high-tech jobs available in Germany were for juniors, CompTIA notes. That cuts both ways, though. If you’re prepared to live a little on the edge, Berlin startup jobs can be plentiful, but consider that the sector's hiring also includes a lot of established and famous German companies.
Here’s a list of the top-5 industry sectors engaged in tech hiring in Germany, according to CompTIA:
1. Manufacturing
2. Information and Communication
3. Administrative and Support Services
4. Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
5. Government, Public Administration, and Defense
Once you’ve narrowed down your target, consider the tech job search websites that fit you best. If you’re gunning for the IT industry itself, then perhaps Stack Overflow jobs are your primary target. Industry? LinkedIn.
Next, burnish your CV. Now, more than ever, companies are looking for talent that can also fit in with increasingly sensitive corporate cultures, and who have skills outside of IT that fit their industry. If you have any, make sure you include experience in verticals, especially in Fintech or Logistics. It’ll help you stand out from the crowd! Also, don’t downplay soft skills; they’re valued by companies with jobs willing to relocate you.
You can expect a job site such as indeed.com to point out “10 Reasons Why Soft Skills are Important to Employers”. But Jeremy Epstein also asked in Tech Crunch something more to the point in August 2021” “How do you wrangle a highly educated, decentralized workforce and rally them around a singular mission?” If you’re looking for a tech management position, you’ll need to be prepared to answer this question in an interview, but the best way is to show it on your CV.
Hammering the point home, and not just for managers, the European Tech Hiring Trends report emphasizes:
“And, because of the intersection of technology and business (aka the business of technology), technologists must possess a solid foundation of soft skills in areas such as communications, emotional intelligence, collaboration, problem resolution and more.”
Do show off your tech chops, too! At Employa, we recommend that high-end recruiters use GitHub for targeted searches.
Last but not least, start hunting! Mix up your searches, so you cover your target broadly. Sticking solely to berlin dev jobs as a search could leave out something found under berlin startup jobs that fits the bill. But whether you’re looking at one of the best tech job search sites or across industrial verticals in LinkedIn, the only way to fail is to stop looking.
Targeting high-tech talent is getting high-tech itself, so making sure you have a good presence online, no matter what your level, will help you stand out. Employa is an AI-driven research assistant that helps recruiters by automatically posting vacancies to the best IT jobs websites, but it also uses AI to select only the best applicants.